[SINISTER MUSIC]
NARRATOR: In 2020, Australia was the deadliest place
on Earth for shark attacks.
REPORTER: A man in his 50s has been killed in a shark attack.
REPORTER: The body of a 60-year-old surfer under
a paramedic's blue blanket.
REPORTER: The man was killed by a great white shark
at a popular Gold Coast beach.
NARRATOR: Eight dead in less than a year.
REPORTER: --making 2020 the nation's deadliest
12 months in 91 years.
NARRATOR: But as the white shark took center stage,
a silent killer rose from the deep.
The bull shark.
This increase in attacks has caught
the attention of bull-shark-encounter survivor
Paul De Gelder.
PAUL DE GELDER: Of the eight fatalities, six of them
were attributed to white sharks, and two of them
were believed to be bull sharks.
And since then, we've had two very
serious incidences with bull sharks
where people have nearly died.
NARRATOR: Paul wants to know what's caused this spike
in bull-shark attacks.
Are they becoming more aggressive?
Have their hunting tactics changed?
Are they moving into new areas to find food
and finding us instead?
[WATER BUBBLING]
To help solve the mystery, Paul is teaming
up with Dr. Johan Gustafson--
Johan. JOHAN GUSTAFSON: Hi, Paul.
How are you, mate? - Good.
Glad to finally meet you.
NARRATOR: --a shark ecologist from Griffith University
who has been studying Australia's bull
sharks for nearly 10 years.
Together, Johan and Paul will embark on a dangerous mission
to try to uncover the truth about what's
caused these recent attacks.
Our mission here is to find these bull sharks,
to get in the water with them, and capture
on film their hunting techniques and predatory behaviors.
And if we can pinpoint either the man-made or environmental
triggers that are contributing to these negative encounters
between humans and bull sharks, perhaps we can
find a way to minimize them.
NARRATOR: The team will conduct their research around Fraser
Island, one of the most reliable places in Australia
to find big bulls in big numbers.
OBSERVER: [LAUGHS] Holy [BLEEP]
Fraser Island is not an easy place to do research.
It has strong currents, poor visibility.
It's miles away from any help.
But if the sharks are there, that's where we need to be.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Whew.
The adventure begins.
[CHUCKLES]
NARRATOR: The team believes recent conflicts with humans
could be the result of a change in bull-shark hunting
behaviors.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: All right.
All these guys going on? PAUL DE GELDER: All right.
Yep. We're going to have four GoPros.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: All right.
NARRATOR: So they will lower a baited camera system
slowly to the bottom to see where the sharks are
actively hunting.
I think we are good to go.
The way this bait-box cam works is, it's a steel container,
and we've stuffed it full of chum.
There's cameras pointing in every direction on the top,
so we're going to be able to see any shark
that comes in to check it out.
All right.
These are rolling, ready to deploy.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: Yep, mate.
Go for gold.
PAUL DE GELDER: And she's away.
[EERIE MUSIC]
NARRATOR: The bait-box camera hasn't even
made it 10 feet beneath the boat and is already surrounded
by large bull sharks.
I don't know if it's hitting something or it's the current
or--
something's bumping into it.
NARRATOR: Bull sharks are believed to hunt in the deep.
This amount of activity close to the surface is highly unusual.
But Paul can only feel the vibrations through the line.
There's definitely something hitting it.
NARRATOR: He has no idea what is going on below.
Oh, something's got it, mate.
I can't pull it up!
[GROANS] I don't know what this is, but it's not [INAUDIBLE]..
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: All right, mate.
[GROANING] All right.
Got it.
[BLEEP] Bringing it up.
[GROANS]
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: That was a fight and a half.
Mate, I don't know what that was,
but it's ripped the door off.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: All of the teeth marks.
PAUL DE GELDER: [CHUCKLES]
NARRATOR: The team wastes no time downloading the footage.
Dude, dude, due.
- Look at that. - Look at the bull sharks.
Bull sharks.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
PAUL DE GELDER: --so murky.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: They're quite inquisitive, aren't they?
PAUL DE GELDER: Seriously, look at that.
NARRATOR: The amount of bull sharks lurking just
beneath the boat is astounding.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: Whoo!
There's two of them.
PAUL DE GELDER: They're peck to peck.
What we're seeing here is classic bull-shark behavior.
They're coming in and bumping the prey first.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: Dude.
That's what I was feeling.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: I didn't expect to see so many sharks so close
to the surface.
BOTH: Oh!
Oh!
PAUL DE GELDER: Look at that!
It's swallowed it!
It's taken the cam.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: It's got the whole box in its mouth.
PAUL DE GELDER: What?
Have you ever seen this before?
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: I've never seen that before ever.
NARRATOR: This terrifying footage
is likely the last thing seen by a shark-attack victim.
And the team managed to capture the entire event
from four different angles.
PAUL DE GELDER: Oh!
That's disgusting.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: That's the muscle that closes
the throat, like our esophagus.
PAUL DE GELDER: I cannot believe what I'm seeing.
This has to be a world first--
a camera angle from inside a shark's mouth.
And the way this shark just bulldozed
through, swallowed the whole bait-box cam-- this is unreal.
NARRATOR: The other bull sharks captured on film
appeared hesitant to bite, prompting the team to take
a closer look at the footage.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: Oh, look at teeth.
PAUL DE GELDER: That's not a bull shark.
That's tiger-shark teeth.
Look, that is definitely a tiger shark, bro.
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, man.
Look at that.
And it's the same on top and bottom.
PAUL DE GELDER: Where did that come from?
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: It actually makes sense
that it was a tiger shark that tried
to eat the bait-box camera.
The bull sharks were investigating it.
But the tiger shark just saw it, smelt it,
and just went to engulf it.
Very different behaviors.
See how they bumped it first a couple of times,
and then they came in, almost like they're competing for it?
JOHAN GUSTAFSON: I can't believe there's that many sharks right
under the boat.
NARRATOR: Bull sharks usually favor deeper water,
especially during the day.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
Yeah, they're having a solid go at it.
NARRATOR: But these sharks appear to be hunting
much closer to the surface.
PAUL DE GELDER: Like, coming up on the same angle.
NARRATOR: Could this be evidence of a significant change
in their hunting behaviors?
Or did the bait-box camera only capture
some of the bull sharks, and there's
even more lurking in the deep?
[WATER FLOWING]
[WATER BUBBLING]